Backpack Transmitter

September 16, 2014: Crane #7 was one of three cranes to get the new backpack transmitters used this year for the first time. This new way to track uses new technologies that make batteries last longer. A signal Teflon ribbon wraps around the wings, holding the unit centered on the bird's back where the ribbon is exposed to the sun and can get a better signal than a leg-mounted transmitter that spends most of the time submerged in marshy water. If one side of the harness is damaged, the entire unit falls off instead of dangling from the bird's other wing.

Image: Operation Migration